Personality traits you should be aware of when your teen wants to drive

Well, as you approach the driver training process with your teen, you should really assess their own personality risks, as it applies to their driving risks. Because oftentimes, things like their appetite for risk will translate into their riskiness as a driver. So if your child snowboarded at 6 and did competitive motocross at 8, you're going to have a bigger challenge reducing that kind of risky behavior behind the wheel compared to a child who is not interested in risky activities, or maybe was more drawn to chess or reading.
Another risk factor is their concentration. If your teen has ADD, or has trouble concentrating for any period of time, you've got to take that into account in your training program. It's a high risk factor, you've got to really work on increasing that focus, reducing distractions. Decisiveness is another one. If you've got a spacey or indecisive teen, safe driving requires quick, rapid accurate decision-making. So part of your program is to get them to make the right decision rapidly through repetition. And finally, be aware of any other risk factors or any personality that might translate to risky driving. An aggressive teen who's easily angered is going to be a problem for you behind the wheel because you don't want them to exhibit road rage. If you got, again, an indecisive or a timid teen, you need to work with them in a gradual series of steps so they're able to make the right decision in a driving situation to reduce their driving risk.

Timothy Smith

Author & Teen Driving Expert

Timothy Smith is a healthcare executive living in the Chicago area with his wife and three children. He got involved with teen driving several years ago when a number of teenagers were killed in multiple crashes near his home, virtually all due to driver error. His search for information to help his teens avoid car crashes yielded little of value, so he became a certified driving instructor, got trained and licensed to race cars, took defensive driving courses and ended up writing Crashproof Your Kids: Make Your Teen A Safer, Smarter Driver. He is also Chairman of Aegis Mobility, a software company which has developed technology to manage and reduce cell phone use while driving.

Well, as you approach the driver training process with your teen, you should really assess their own personality risks, as it applies to their driving risks. Because oftentimes, things like their appetite for risk will translate into their riskiness as a driver. So if your child snowboarded at 6 and did competitive motocross at 8, you're going to have a bigger challenge reducing that kind of risky behavior behind the wheel compared to a child who is not interested in risky activities, or maybe was more drawn to chess or reading.
Another risk factor is their concentration. If your teen has ADD, or has trouble concentrating for any period of time, you've got to take that into account in your training program. It's a high risk factor, you've got to really work on increasing that focus, reducing distractions. Decisiveness is another one. If you've got a spacey or indecisive teen, safe driving requires quick, rapid accurate decision-making. So part of your program is to get them to make the right decision rapidly through repetition. And finally, be aware of any other risk factors or any personality that might translate to risky driving. An aggressive teen who's easily angered is going to be a problem for you behind the wheel because you don't want them to exhibit road rage. If you got, again, an indecisive or a timid teen, you need to work with them in a gradual series of steps so they're able to make the right decision in a driving situation to reduce their driving risk.